Domestic clothes washing machine and drier



Jan. 1, 1935. F. B. OBRIEN DOMESTIC CLOTHES WASHING MACHINE AND DRI ERFild Aug. 3, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Fred B. O'bn'en :82 70 sl aFig.

ATTORN EYS Jan. 1, 1935.

F. B. O'BRIEN DOMESTIC CLOTHES WASHING MACHINE AND DRIER 5 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed Aug. 3, 1935 Fig.3

ATTORNEYS 1935- F. B. OBRIEN DOMESTIC CLOTHES WASHING MACHINE AND DRIERFiled Aug. 3, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INYENTOR Fred B. Obrien BY & W

ATTORNEYS Patented Jan- 1, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT] QFFlCE DOMESTICCLOTHES WASHING MACHINE I v 1 DRIER.

Fred B. O'Brien, Utica, N. Y. ApplicationAugust s, 1933, Serial o.683,498

- form as to clean, rinse and dry the clothes very efliciently andquickly.

Further purposes are to provide a device of the sort mentioned-where therotated basket used to rinse and drythe clothes is of such'constructionand combination with the rest of the machine that the lower half of thetub of the machine is left free and clear of all obstructions eitherfixed or movable heretofore commonly thought necessary to physicallymove or handle the clothes or to rotate the rinsing and drying basket;to provide a washing machine where the washing operation proper iscarried out by forcing a stream or streams of the washing suds orwashing solution through and preferably upwardly through the mass ofclothes placed in the washing compartment and to have these streams ofwashing solution of such force, char- ,acter and location as to beforced repeatedly through the fabric of the clothes and to move theclothes about in the washing compartment so that their position may befrequently changed therein, but is so changed without the applica- 'tionof any physical moving by contacting the clothes except the said streamor streams of washing solution being forced repeatedly through the'fabric of the clothes. 1

' side of the top of the tub whereby the tub below A further purpose ofmy invention is to provide a rinsing and .drying basket of such form andso mounted and so connected to the tub and so rotatably 'moved in ahorizontal plane at the top of the tub as not to require any shafts,mounting or other mechanism in the bottom of the tub or projecting upwithin the tub and in other words to have said basket in the form 'of aring with its outer upper periphery suitably mounted upon the top of thetub and driven from one said basket and its closely adjacent partitionis left entirely clear for the hydraulic washing operation of theclothes in the bottom of the. tub.

. Still further purposes arev to provide mechanism of the difierenttypes mentioned of such construction, form. combination and co-operationas will effectively help in producing a 'complete washing machine of thegeneral form suggested. v Another purpose is to provide a washingmachine of the type described wherein the hydraulic washing of theclothes may be carried on in the washing compartment simultaneously withthe operation of the centrifugal rinsing and drying basket in the upperpart of the machine.

Fig. 1'is a vertical central sectional view of a complete domesticwashing .machine showing one embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a top view thereof but with the cover I removed. Y v

3 is a horizontal sectional view mostly on the two levels indicated bythe section line 3-3 of Fi l.

Fig. 4 is a detail on a somewhat enlarged scale of the parts sectionedas shown in 1 and of the tub, the outer upper portion of the drierbasket, the drive wheel moving the same and adjacent parts of thedevice. a

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a modified form of arrangement andoperation of the pumps, the tub supporting ring and the platform.98being partly broken away thereabove to more plainly show the pumps, theconnecting pipes being also omitted to avoid-confusion. I

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional of Fig. 5 but on an enlarged scale. I

Fig.7 isaviewsimilartoFig.4butshowing the use of a roller bearing tomount the rinsing and drier basket.

Referring to the drawings in a more particular description it will beseen that this machine comprises a tub generally designated by thenumeral viwonlineG-G 8 and providing therein a lower compartment orwashing compartment 10 and an upper or drying compartment 9 with saidcompartments divided by a ring-like partition 12 extending from the sideof the tub about half way down and then projecting inwardly and thenupwardly as particularly appears in Fig. 1 and terminating at its upperedge in a large aperture or handhole 14. Through this hand hole 14 theclothes are originally passed down into the washing compartment 10 andwhen required are brought up again therethrough and deposited in theannular basket 11. This annular basket 11] side wall 16 thereof and theannular partition 12 already mentioned.

Conveniently as suggested in Fig. 1 the remainder of the tub formingthewashing compartment may be .originally formed separate from the upperside wall 16 already mentioned; that is, the lower part of the tub willhave its side walls 15 begin at the bottom ofthe side wall 16 of thewashing compartment and extend downwardly gradually slopinginwardly toform the bottom 17 of the tub. The generally centrally sloping bottom1'7, however, is transformed about two-thirds the way to the verticalaxis of the tub into the sump or drainage compartment 18 having sidewalls 18 and a bottom'18 which sump is normally covered by a removablestrainer 60. Securely fastened to the sides of the tub 8 in spacedrelation there are provided strong upstanding legs 19 preferably threein number. To these legs there is securely fastened a tub-supportingframe 20. This frame is preferably and conveniently in the form of "alarge strong ring upon which the bottom of the tub rests just.

. by the said cover being provided with a downwardly projecting flange21 fitting the adjacent upper edge of the tub.

The combined rinsing and drying basket 11, herein for brevity-called thedrying basket 11, is provided with numerous perforations 76 extendingthrough the bottom and both the inner and outer parts of the dryingbasket almost up to the level of the top of the partition 12. Theseperforations allow the washing suds or washing solution to drain outfrom the clothes as they are being placed in the drying basket and soallows the said washing solution to gather in the bottom of the dryingcompartment 9 from a low spot in the bottom of which a drain pipe 66conducts the liquid out through the side of the tub and downwardlythrough a pipe 74 connected thereto extending down to the service pumphereinafter mentioned.

As soon as a desired amount of clothes have been broughtup through thehand holes 13 and 14 anddistributed as evenly as possible through thering-like drying basket 11 the said basket will be rotated in the driercompartment 9 by the mechanism and means now to be described.

As appears more particularly in Fig. 1 and on a larger scale in Fig. 4,the metal forming the upper outer wall of the drying basket 11 projectsslightly inwardly as at 11 to form a spatterguard and safety guard andthen projects horizontally outward as at 11 and is then turneddownwardly forming the vertical flange 26. In the angle within thisflange 26 and below the horizontal portion 11 there is located the upperball race 22 of a large ball bearing consisting of said upper race 22, aplurality of balls 24 and the lower race 23. This lower race 23 isheldwithin the three opposing sides of a large bracket 25 which in themain is annular in shape and has its lower leg extending down along theinner surface of.the tub below the level of the said lower race 23 andwith said leg of the bracket permanently secured to said portion of thetub,

being the side wall 16 of the drying compartment. It will now be seenthat the overhanging upper extremity of the outer wall of the dryingbasket is hangingly and rotatably supported through the parts of saidball bearing upon the upper part of the tub, namely the upper part ofthe drying compartment 16. It will also be noted that through the largeand. substantially braced ball bearings the said basket can be rapidlyrotated so as to expel water from the clothes in the said drying basketin an obvious'manner by centrifugal action. Also it will be seen thatdue to the construction and arrangement of said ball bearing and theadjacent part of the tub and basket the said basket can be. rotated asfast as required with a minimum of power and noise.

The means for so rotating the drying basket 11 includes ahorizontally-arranged driving wheel 27 preferably having a friction face2'7 bearing against the outer face of the flange 26 of said basket. Thisdriving wheel 27 is mounted mostly outside of the tub of the machinenear its upper edge conveniently as by having the said wheel projectatone point slightly into the space within 'the tub to engage the saidflange 26 as by means of a slot or aperture 80 provided in the side wall16 of the drying compartment just below the top edge thereof. Thisdriving wheel 27 vis securely fastened to the upper end of verticalshaft 28 mounted in upper bearing 34 projecting outward from a strongvertical standard or'bracket 39 extending up along the side of the fullheight of the tub at this point and securely fastened at its lower endto the tub-supporting frame 20. Spaced down from the upper bearing 34there is provided on this bracket 39 a middle bearing 35 and at thelower end of the bracket is provided another outwardly extending bearing36. In these two bearings are vertically supported the bevel gear shaft29. For detachably connecting the aligned shafts 28 and 29 there isprovided the clutch 30 consisting of clutch member 31 secured to theupper shaft .28 and lower clutch member 32 connected tothe lower orbevel gear shaft 29 with the operation of said clutch controlled by thehandle 33. Shafts 28 and 29 are held from downward movement by ring 83.secured to shaft 29 and engaging the upper end oflower bearing 36.

Preferably over the top of the drive wheel 27 and around its oppositelyextending periphery and therebelow around the bearings 34, 35 and 36 andthe shaft 29 is a generally semi-circular shield 37.

At the lower end of the said vertical shaft 29 there is secured thebevel spur gear 40 meshing with a vertically-arranged ring gear 41 onthe outer end of shaft 43 extending from the motor 42. This motor issecured to the lower side of a straight mechanism-carrying plate 52which in turn is suitably rigidly secured to the bottom of the annularframe 20. called the tubsupporting frame and which frame 20 as alreadydescribed is rigidly secured to'the three legs of the machine.

The gears 40 and 41 are suitably enclosed within a grease-filled housing38.v Suitably hung in alignment with the motor 42 from the saidsupporting plate 52 there are provided in order the service 'pump 44 andafter an intervening clutch 45 three further centrifugal pumps 49, and51. It will now be seen that the centrifugal service pump 44,is operatedall of the time that the motor 42 is running, but that the other pumps49, 50 and 51 may be shut off or run as desired by suitable operation ofthe clutch 45. The clutch 45 consists of a driving member 46 on theshaft of the constantlyrunning service pump 44, a driven member-47 and acontrol handle 48.

The pipe 74 already mentioned as coming from the drain of the dryingcompartment 9 extends down outside the tube to the inlet" orifice of theservice pump 44. The outletof said pump is connected to the servicedischarge pipe 81 which extends below the tub and is then provided witha flexible hose 62 long enough to extend up along side the tub as shownin Fig.1 and have its upper end directed down to the hand holes 13 and14 if the water being moved by the service pump is to be returned to thewashing compartment of the machine. If desired, the upper end of thishose may be directed into a house drain or other outlet for the waterbeing directed by the service pump. After the washing solution has beenex' tracted from a batch of clothes the operator causes clean rinsewater from any proper source to be placed and held in therinsing anddrying compartment while the clothes are being rinsed in the body ofwater thus flooding the basket. If it is desired to circula te the rinsewater, that can be done by allowing the rinse water to go down throughpipe '74 to the service pump which propels it upward through hose 62which for this operation has its upper end directed down into the basketin the rinsing and drying compartment. Whenthe rinsing hasbeen-completed the hose is directed into the house drain or otherdisposal place and the service pump carries off first the free water andthen during the drying operation the remaining water as it is extractedfrom the clothes by the whirling of the basket. Ordinarily this rinsingoperation is repeated once with a new supply of rinse waten.

From a drain outlet 64 located in the lowest part of the bottom of thesump 18 a pipe 73 extends beneath the sump to a valve 56 and then oninto the pipe 74 going into the inlet end of the service pump. Normallythe valve 56 is closed so that the service pump does not draw thewashing solution from the sump 18 but can do so when the washingcompartment is to be finally emptied. From three outlets 63 preferablyequally spaced about the vertical wall of the sump 18 nearly to thebottom thereof there extend pipes 70, 71

' and '72 extending respectively to the inlet openings of'the fourthpump 51, the third pump 50 and the second pump 49. From the outletopening of the pump 49 the pipe 69 extends carrying the .water under thepower of this pump to a.

nozzle 59 located in the bottom 17 of the wash ing compartment.Preferably this nozzle is so constructed as to be flush with theinsidesurface of the tub, that is, to leave no projecting parts located asthis machine is illustrated about a third'of the way around the bottomof thewashing chamber and about half way between the side wall of thewashing chamber and the adja- ,cent or nearest part of the sump.Similarly from the outlet of the third pump 51 a pipe 67 extends to asimilar'and successively spaced nozzle 57.

Figsffi and 6 illustrate a modified form of the means for assembling,mounting and driving the shaft 91 is provided the beveled ring gear 41engaging the bevel spur gear 40 at the bottom of the main vertical shaft29. The farther end of the shaft 91 of this modification is supported ina suitable bearing 92 depending from the said frame 20. Upon the shaft91 are provided four separate spaced friction faced drive wheels 93, 94,95 and 96 counting from the motor 90. The service pump 97 has its casingsuitably hung from a strong flat platform 98 which in turn is supportedat its opposite ends from the said frame 20.

The shaft of the service pump 97 is provided with a friction faceddriven wheel 99 constantly engaged with the drive wheel 93 nearest themotor so that this service pump is running constantly whenever the motoris operated. The inlet and outlet openings of this service pump areconnected respectively to the inlet and outlet pipes 74 and servicedischarge pipe 81 as in the previously described form of this inventionand consequently operating in the same" way and therefore needing nofurther description at this time.

Beneath the platform 98 to the left of the first pump as the parts areillustrated in Fig. 5, there is provided a movable platform 100 hingedat its left hand edge as the parts are seen in Fig. 6 to the platform98. To the lower face of this movable platform 100 there is secured thecasing of the second, third and fourth centrifugal pumps 101, 102 and103 substantially in alignment and each provided with its own frictiondriven wheel with the driven wheel 104 of the second pump in line withthe friction drive wheel 94 and with the wheel 105 of the third pump inalignment with the friction drive wheel 95 and with the wheel 106 ofthefourth pump 103 in alignment with the drive wheel 96. The parts areso fixed that the slight movement of the movable platform 100 moves allof the pumps 101, 102 and 103 and their respective driven wheelssufficiently to bring the co-operating friction wheels of the pumps intoengagement with the driving wheels on shaft 91 or out of engagementtherewith. As the parts are shown in the enlarged vertical sectionalview, Fig. 6, the said movably mounted pumps are .being driven when themovable platform 100 is raised and the said pumps will be disengaged andso not running when said movableplatform 100 is lowered. The movement ofsaid platform 100 is effected by a part or projection 107 of saidmovable platform having its lower face engaged preferably by a pair ofspaced cams 108 mounted on cam shaft 109. This cam shaft is mounted inbearing brackets 110 depending from the right hand edge of the fixedplatform 98 as the parts are seen in Fig. 6. The movement of said rockshaft and consequently of the one or more cams 108' is efiected by acontrol handle 111 secured to and projecting out from the said shaft toa convenient position for manipulation by the hand or foot of theoperator. It will now be seen, that from the raised operating positionof the bodily movable pumps 101, 102 and 103 on movable platform 100,the said pumps with their respective driven wheels may be readilylowered sufficiently to disengage their driven wheels from theirrespective driving friction wheels by raising the free end-of controlhandle 111. These three. bodily movable pumps have their inlet openingsconnected to the three inlet pipes coming from the sump and have theirthree outlet openings connected to the dischargepipes carrying the waterto the respective nozzles in the bottom of the washing-compartment allas hereinbefore described with respect to the first form of my machine.It will be under stood, however, that between each pump and the nearends of its-pipes there will need to be inserted a suitable length offlexible hose 112 which vwill allow for the slight swinging of the saidpumps without disarranging or having to move the near ends of the inletand outlet pipes thus connected by said hose to the respective pumps.

It may be stated that in this form of my inven-' tion as well as in thefirst described form of pump driving mechanism of my invention I preferto have aiplurality of separate pumps to force the water to therespective nozzles below the washing compartment. The reason for this isthat by employing separate pumps a definite force of water will alwaysbe directed out from each nozzle and thereby operate to prevent anynozzle from becoming clogged or obstructed by a heavy mass of clotheshappening to become located thereover. When each nozzle has its own pumpthe power of that pump will ultimately move such obstructing mass ofclothes from that nozzle. This might not be the case were one large pumpused with the stream of water diverted through separate pipes. It willbe-understood, however, that the use of one pump or at least of lesspumps than the number of water-directing nozzles to be used is withinthe contemplation of my invention and within the scope of certain of theclaims hereinafter set forth.

Fig. 7 is in the main similar to Fig. 4 but shows a modified form ofconstruction employing an anti-friction bearing of the roller bearingtype to suspendingly mount the upper outer edge of the rinser and drierbasket upon the top edge of the tub. The upper outer part of the basketshaped to provide a flange as already described in detail encloses theupper race 84 and the annular bracket 25 on the inner upper part of thetub houses the lower race 85.- Between these races are located suitablerollers 86 longitudinally pierced by pins 87 whereby cage or linkmembers 88 are connected for helping to hold the rollers in place andproperly spaced. Preferably whichever type of bearing is used to hangthe-drier basket on--'the tub, the basket is readily disconnected fromits part of the bearing. This may conveniently be accomplished byhavingremov- It is believed that the general operation of the machine isapparent from the description of the machine without following throughthe diiferent operations in detail. Attention however is called to thefact that not only can the washing operation be carried on in the lowercompartment of i the tub and the rinsing and drying operation be carriedon separately in the upper part of the tub but also that these twooperations may becarried on simultaneously without in any wiseinterrupting each other or rendering the operation or watching of themachine more difiicult.

as it allows the housewife to begin washing a sec ond batch of clothesin the hydraulic washing compartment as soon as she has placed the lastof the clothes in the rinsing and drying basket; It will be obvious thatthe carrying on of these two separate operations simultaneously resultsin greatly reducing the time necessary to complete the washing anddrying operations required for This is an especially advantageousarrangement several batches of clothes. v

Attention is further called to the fact that the rinsing and dryingmechanism and the washing mechanism proper are particularly adapted tooooperate with each other and not to interfere with each other. Forinstance the mounting of the rinsing and drying basket by its upperouter edge upon the upper edge of the tub instead of mounting the centerof the basket upon an upstanding shaft or post projecting up from thebottom of the washing compartment as commonly done heretofore withcentrifugally operating drying baskets, leaves the whole area of thewashing compartment free and clear of any obstruction. This utilizing ofthe whole clear area of the washing compartment allows more clothes tobe washed in a given sized tub and allows the clothes to be moved aboutmuch more freely in the large washing compartment than has heretoforebeen practicable and aids in the clothes being so constantly moved aboutby the several streams of water projected upwardly and slantingly there-.against. It will be seen also that a relatively large wards the nozzlesof the pipes constantly directing the washing solution into the washingcompartment: In this'way the clothes are constantly tumbled in variousdirections and pushed apart and new surfaces or parts of the clothesexposed to the different streams of washing solution.

On the other hand the mounting of the rinsing and drying basketbysuspending its upper outer edge upon the upper edge of the tub forms astrong well-braced nonvibrating bearing system and suspendingly hangingthe basket so that it can berotated .noiselessly and without undue wearupon any of the parts. suspending the basket by its outer upper edgeupon the upper edge of the wash tub also admits of the use of a largeannular basket of much greater area than has heretofore been foundavailable as far as I have been informed in any domestic washing machineusing the centrifugal type of dryer basket; This large diameter of thebasket of course pro-. duces' a corresponding increase in the peripheryor circumference of the basket and so a proper peripheral speed of thebasket can be obtained for the needed centrifugal action without havingto rotate the basket as fast as is necessary where a smallar basket hasto be used. This reduction in speed of the basketoperates to obtainquietdesire to secure by a a central aperture giving access to the spaceforming a washing compartment in the tub below said partition, anannular, perforated drier basket located in said drier compartment andrevolubly mounted at its outer side upon the upper edge of said tub andmeans engaging the outer side of the basket for rapidly rotating saidbasket. v

2. In a domestic clothes-washing machine drier mechanism, thecombination of a tub, an

annular channel compartment with its open side upward and forming adrying compartment in the upper part of the tub with a central aperturegiving access to the space forminga washing compartment in the tub belowsaid partition, an annular, perforated drier basket located in saiddrier compartment and revolubly mounted at its outer side uponthe upperedge of said tub, a

drive wheel mounted outside said tub and engaging the outer side of thebasket for rapidly' rotating said basket, a motor near the lower part ofthe tub and means entirely outside said tub and operatively connectingsaid motor and said drive wheel.

3. In a domestic clothes-washing machine, the combination of atub-having a circular upper edge, an annular channel partitionenclosing-a central opening and having its open side upward and dividingthe tub into an upper annular, rinsing and drying compartment and alower washing compartment to which washing compartment, access is hadthrough the aperture in the said partition, an annular, perforated drierbasket located in said drier'compartment and revolubly mounted at itsouter side upon the upper edge of the tub, a motor outside said tub nearits lower part, means outside of the tub operatively connecting themotor to the outer part of said basket for rotating the basket, a pumpdriven by said motor and connected at its inlet to the lower part of thewashing compartment and connected at its outlet to the lower part of thewashing compartment whereby the washing solution is repeatedlycirculated through the washing compartment and is directed in a strongstream against the clothes therein.

4. In a domestic clothes-washing machine, the combination of a tubhaving an annular channel partition enclosing a central opening andhaving its open side upward and extending inwardly therefrom anddividing the tub into an upper annular, rinsing and compartment and alower washing compartment to which washing compartment access is hadthrough the aperture in the said partition, an annular, perforated drierbasket located in said drier compartment and revolubly mounted at itsouter side upon the upper edge of the tub, a motor outside said tub nearits lower part, means outside of the tub operatively connecting themotor to the outer part of said basket, for rotating the basket, a pumpdriven by said motor and connected at its inlet to the lower part of thewashing compartment and connected at its outlet to the lower part of thewashing compartment whereby the washing solution is repeatedlycirculated through the washing compartment and is directed in a strongstream against the clothes therein.

5. In a domestic clothes-washing machine, the combination of a tubhaving a circular upper edge, an annular channel partition enclosing acentral opening and having its open side upward and dividing the tubinto an upper annular, rinsing and drying compartment and a lowerwashing compartment the latter comprising the whole,unobstructed'crossarea of the tub and to which compartment access is hadthrough the central aperture in said partition, an annular, perforateddrier basket located in said drier compartment and revolubly mounted atits outer side upon the upper edge of the'tub, a motor outside said tubnear its lower part, means outside of the tub operatively connecting themotor to the outer part of said basket for rotating the basket, a pumpdriven by said motor and connected at its inlet to'the lower part of thewashing compartment and connected at its outlet to the lower part of thewashing compartment whereby the washing solution is repeatedly cir-

